Screenshot: Pyramid Plunge
Okay, so I haven’t spent as much time in
Spelunky or
Spelunky 2 as I’ve wanted to. There are a million games to play, and despite those two being high on my list of games to ‘git gud’ at, I never played them beyond a couple of hours each. Imagine my surprise then, when I jumped into
Pyramid Plunge I was greeted with an almost 1:1 clone of
Spelunky.
Pyramid Plunge is a 2D rogue-lite action adventurer platforming side scroller where you navigate through various trapped-filled pyramids until you reach the end and fight a boss. Each of these pyramids are procedurally generated, so each run through is a little different. Death comes at you fast in the pyramids, however, as pressure plates unleash hails of arrows or rolling boulders, and mummies, snakes and other nasties try to do you harm. Get hit three times and your run is over. You can also bring a friend to share in the challenge, or commiserate in inevitable heartache as either one of you falls victim to the pyramid and its nefarious traps.
Screenshot: Pyramid Plunge
While it’s certainly an homage of
Spelunky, it can almost be argued it’s just the same game. But
Pyramid Plunge attempts to at least look a little different, with characters that look inspired by 1920s/1930s style and cartoons. Made with pixel art, these main characters—Giorgio and Felicia—look great, and have wonderful animations. Though Felicia’s idle gyrations at first tend to look a little, uh, suggestive—it’s in a very Betty Boop sort of way.
When
Pyramid Plunge hits Steam this month, it’ll do so as an Early Access game. That means the version you can buy on release won’t be the finished version. According to the Early Access info box on the Steam store page, the Early Access period is only planned for around three months. After which, developer PolyCrunch Games plans on added a fourth ‘world’: The Underworld. This bolsters the game’s three currently playable worlds: Egypt, Maya, and Alaska (because Alaska is known for its pyramids).
Screenshot: Pyramid Plunge
While not available yet,
Pyramid Plunge will be releasing into Early Access on Steam sometime this month. If you’re looking for an alternative to
Spelunky, then
Pyramid Plunge is about as close as you can get without copyright issues. But
Pyramid Plunge has its own attitude, and a brand of action-adventure platforming that might be what you’re looking for.
Pyramid Plunge will be available
sometime this month on Steam.
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